Blood Orange Yogurt Cake

I've been doing a lot of baking lately, which means I've been going through a lot of butter, sugar and eggs. While it's been producing some really tasty results, it seemed about time to lighten things up.

Yogurt cake is a great way to have a rich dessert without too much fat or sugar. The version I made here was actually for a breakfast party in my health class. Recipes frequently call for a dollop of whipped cream on top, that seems to defeat the purpose of a healthy cake to me. I served mine with a quick fruit salsa so people could see what the blood oranges looked like.

I adapted this recipe for Orange Yogurt Cake to use blood oranges , but either works great. I've had trouble with whole wheat flour before, but I used it in this recipe and it worked great. (I recommend Bob's Red Mill Organic Whole Wheat Pastry Flour). Cutting the whole wheat flour with white flour helps keep the cake light, but I might try it next time with all whole wheat flour.

Pictures are once again by Mr. Dominic Luongo, well except for the last one which was taken while serving it in class. Unfortunately we'll be back to bad cellphone pictures after this.

Blood Orange Cake

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup plain nonfat yogurt
1/2 cup sugar
juice of one blood orange
zest of about 1 1/2 blood oranges
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line a 9 inch round pan with parchment and spray with nonstick spray (it would probably be fine to skip the parchment).

Zest the blood oranges.

Juice one blood orange.

Whisk together yogurt, sugar, eggs, zest, vanilla extract, and juice.

In another bowl, mix together both flours, baking powder, and salt in one bowl.

Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Use a rubber spatula to incorporate the vegetable oil.

Pour the batter into the round pan.

Bake about 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Let cool and then serve slices with a dollop of whipped cream or fruit salsa (or both).

Fruit Salsa
the juice and zest of one lime
1-2 tablespoons honey
2 blood oranges, peeled and diced
1 can of pear in juice, drained and diced

Mix together zest, juice and honey in a bowl, add blood oranges and pears, toss to coat.

Blood Orange Bars

As the temperature dipped into negative numbers recently, I really found myself craving citrus. This was amplified by the appearance of blood oranges at my local Wegmans (they're difficult to find even when they're in season). So of course I stocked up on blood oranges and immediately began making plans to do some baking with them.

I enlisted a friend (Mr. Dominic Luongo) to take pictures, so you wouldn't have to put up with any of my fuzzy rushed cellphone pictures.

First I attempted Blood Orange 'Lemon' Bars. They turned out great, not as pink as I'd have liked, but they were really delicious. The only problem I encountered was that I forgot to grease the baking pan. With some recipes you can get away with forgetting, but here it was absolutely crucial. The bars completely stuck to the pan. They still tasted good, but were a bit messy.

Another crucial step, zesting. I've recently begun a love affair with zesting citrus. For some reason I used to think it was gross, but it adds nice color and extra citrus flavor. (Also it makes your hands smell amazing). Just make sure to zest before juicing the citrus, it's much easier in that order.

If you aren't able to get a hold of blood oranges, I think any combination of citrus would work. Obviously the classic lemon, but orange/lime would be interesting, or maybe grapefruit. Use your favorite or whatever looks good at the grocery store.
Blood Orange 'Lemon' Bars

Crust
3/4 cups unsalted butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
pinch of salt

Filling
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2/3 cup juice, half blood orange and half lime
2 Tablespoons zest, half blood orange and half lime
2/3 cup flour

Preheat oven to 350.

Zest the limes and blood oranges. I used the small grate side of my box grater, but if you have a zester you can obviously use that.

Juice the limes and blood oranges. (Now your hands will smell amazing.) Set juice and zest aside.

Cream together butter and sugar, then slowly add flour and salt.

Transfer to greased baking dish (I used my 13 by 9 baking dish, but I'd recommend something smaller.) Press the dough down evenly in the baking dish (using your hand is the easiest way to do it).

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until lightly golden, set aside to cool (in your fridge/freezer if you're impatient.)

In you mixer (or with a whisk) mix together the eggs and sugar.

Add the juice and zest, mix thoroughly.

Pour the filling over the cooled crust.

Bake for another 30-35 minutes, until the filling is set. (There was a big air bubble in mine when it finished baking, but it went down.)

Let cool.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and garnish with slices of blood orange.